Companionate (18+) | Completed ✔️

Chapter 42: "You still want me?"

Tobias

"Hi."

That one word was all I needed to hear, just the sound of her shaky yet still undeniably beautiful voice made all of the sadness fade away.

The weeks of hurt I felt meant nothing in comparison to what she had been going through. I replayed Taro's words and felt all of the guilt begin to hit me, she was here because of me. She put herself in danger because of whatever Chase had threatened her with. And this hurt more than anything.

The tears pooling in her eyes matched with the tears filling mine. I didn't even know what she had endured from him in the last few weeks but the guilt was starting and I knew it would soon be unbearable.

My eyes roamed all over her, it hurt to the core that he had done this to her. The pain in my heart grew as her bruises seemed like they were darkening as I looked at them. Her face was still quite swollen but she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever met.

I knew Clarise was in the room but my mind was only hypnotised by her. I wanted to kiss her, touch her, feel her but all of that felt too far fetched when I looked her over. I was frozen on the spot feeling the bittersweet feeling wash over me.

On one hand nothing was as I thought it was, she was here and she still loved me but on the other hand, if I had never walked into her life she wouldn't be in this position. I did this to her, this is all my fault -

She looked directly into my eyes, I could see the hurt behind hers but it was what I needed to see to flick that switch in my mind and make me remember that she was here and alive.

She was healing and she was okay. She still loved me and I never went a day without loving her so we could get through this together.

Clarise helped her sit up a little better, I could see the pained look on her face as she grimaced. I rushed over to her other side, I felt all the guilt fade away and all there was left was my love and concern for her. She looked a little downcast when she saw me next to her, I wasn't sure of what she was feeling but I could imagine.

I started to worry that my initial reaction to her made her feel rejected and I prayed that I didn't make her feel like that because that wasn't my intention. I slid my hand into her free hand with a smile, her eyes lifted up to reach mine and I saw my worries confirmed. She sent me a small smile back but the hurt behind her eyes was still so evident. She thought I didn't want her anymore.

Clarise gently stroked her face before holding her chin up with her fingertips. Clarise looked up at me and then back at Monroe as if she already knew what needed to be done. She placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, I watched as Monroe's eyes closed taking in the comforting feeling before she pulled away.

"I'm going to go and talk to your doctor and check on Luxe. Tobias, coffee?" I smiled at her thankfully before shaking my head. She walked out the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Monroe's eyes were still on the door but my eyes had never left her. The last week or so had been the worst for me but nothing compared to the regret I had about how I handled last night. "Don't do that."

She said pulling me out of my thoughts with her statement. She looked back over to me with a sad look in her eyes.

"Don't look at me like I'm china doll that's ready to shatter within seconds. Stop looking at me like I'm the fragile and broken woman I once was. Tobias, I'm not her anymore and you know why? Because I'm free. We're free. He can't hurt us anymore."

She spoke with a shaky tone in her voice as her tears began to fall little by little and she tightened her hand around mine.

I gently used my opposing hand to wipe away her tears with the pad of my thumb. "You remember when I told you that I would put you back together. Well, you didn't need me to do that for you. You did that all by yourself, and you being here right now in front of me is putting me back together." My fingers lingered on her cheek gently as she leaned into my hand.